What You May Have Missed This Past Week and What's Upcoming.

Xbox finally extended its Games With Gold program to the Xbox One and released their big update which no longer requires a gold membership for its most popular apps. The biggest news of the tech world this past week involved Apple and their WWDC, because it garnered such widespread interest a few important, or at least noteworthy, items may have been missed in the process. 

• Miami-Dade police impound three Lyft cars in two days.
• Tesla wins back the right to sell directly to consumers in New Jersey.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook tweets a photo of an Apple assembly line running Windows.
• Facebook approved, and is now running, a Dogecoin tipping app.
• A computer has passed the Turing Test for the first time in history. Debunked
• Netflix lets users know it's Verizon that is impairing streaming quality, Verizon files a cease and desist letter.
• A patent troll is ordered to pay up for the first time.
• Telecom companies are to blame for you not being able to get Google Fiber.
• John Oliver asks internet trolls to tell the FCC they are against net neutrality, FCC's website gets bogged down.

This week I will touch on what exactly torrenting is including how to get started, if such a thing might interest you. I also plan on writing about getting started with animation and how I started the process of beginning a website. I would like to extend a Thank You to all of my readers in an amazing thirteen different countries in just two weeks.

Netflix: A Streaming Giant

Netflix was started in 1997 in California and moved into streaming in 2007. Blockbuster turned down a chance to purchase Netflix for $50 million in 2000, today Blockbuster is no more while Netflix is worth more than $1 billion. You can stream to a variety of devices beyond your computer such as Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo consoles as well as smart phones and tablets.The service costs less than $10 a month and by far has the most vast library of any streaming video service.

On July 18th, 2013 Netflix earned the first Primetime Emmy Award nominations for original online only web television at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. House of Cards, Hemlock Grove and Arrested Development combined for 14 nominations and House of Cards Director David Fincher's won for his work on the episode, Chapter 1, again a first for a web only Series. On December 12th House of Cards was nominated for 4 Golden Globe Awards at the 71st Golden Globe Awards, with Robin Wright winning Best Actress, another first for Netflix and web based programming. On January 17, 2014 Netflix earned it's first Oscar nomination with The Square, a 2013 Egyptian-American documentary which depicts the ongoing Egyptian Revolution of 2011 from its roots in Tahrir Square.

Other original shows available on Netflix are Orange is the New Black Season 2 available this Friday, June 6th @ Midnight PST; Lilyhammer which returns late 2014; Season 8 and 9 of Trailer Park Boys as well as 3 additional Specials; Season 3 of DreamWorks Dragons will be moving to Netflix in Spring 2015; Season 4 of The Killing. Looking towards the future, there have already been a slew of original series announced for the streaming service. Sense8, created by J. Michael Straczynski, who will serve as executive producer alongside The Matrix trilogy creators Andy and Lana Wachowski. Bojack Horsemen, an adult-oriented animated comedy featuring voice work from Will Arnett, Aaron Paul and Amy Sedaris. Marvel Comics will be bringing its characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, and will be teaming those characters for a miniseries based on the Defenders, totaling 60 episodes in all. Netflix is also looking beyond original series to include Stand-Up Comedy, the first being the already released Aziz Ansari: Buried Alive, and original documentaries.

How I Cut Cable, Without Using Torrents or International Streaming Sites.

There are plenty of free sites that you can use to keep up with your favorite shows, start with the actual network sites. Content will most likely be limited to a few most recent episodes and they are usually available the same night that they air, if not the next morning.

• ABC
• CBS
• FOX
• NBC
• CW
• Nickelodeon
• Comedy Central
• MTV

Keeping with free options we should add:

• Free Movie Database - Not Hollywood blockbuster's but free nonetheless.
• South Park - Every episode
• Whose Line Is It Anyway - Every episode
• Crackle - Movies and television with some original content.
• Combat Sports - MMA, K-1 and Boxing, highlights and full fights
• NBC Sports LIVE Stream NBC Sports.

Now on to pay services:

• Netflix - I pay around $8 a month for Netflix and I think they are they best bargain for pay services. Netflix has a large library of TV shows and Movies and have their own original content not available elsewhere like House of Cards, Arrested Development and Orange Is The New Black. Netflix e-mailed me the other day letting me know their price would be going up but since I was an existing customer my increase would not take effect for two years.
• Hulu + - Hulu offers a free and pay version, neither is overly impressive. I have been sent a free month of Hulu + at least three times in the past year and I never extend the service, I cannot get on board with paying them to watch commercials. Most options on Hulu can be watched elsewhere.
• Amazon - Amazon offers streaming when you subscribe to their Amazon Prime which was recently raised to around $100 a year, or around $8.33 a month. Amazon has a decent library including some content not available on Netflix and they are moving towards creating more of the own exclusive shows. Amazon has officially partnered with HBO bringing more content not available with Hulu or Netflix.

Finally don't forget Youtube and other popular video sharing sites.